Constant Contact FAQ
Common questions about how the Constant Contact sync behaves, plus troubleshooting and best practices.
About the Sync
- Will I need to manually subscribe individuals to our lists within Constant Contact after I send their information from Realm?
- No. When you send data from Realm profiles to Constant Contact, you can choose to create a new list, replace an existing list, or update an existing list. Each of these options automatically subscribes the individuals to the list, just as if you had added them within Constant Contact.
- What happens if I need to change an individual's email address?
- When you enable the sync, this links matching profiles in Realm and Constant Contact. The sync then checks each night to determine if the email address has changed. If you change an email address in either system, the sync automatically detects and updates the email address in the other, based on the date it was last changed.
- If an individual updates their own email address in Realm, and I don't know about it, will this also update the information in Constant Contact?
- Yes. The sync automatically detects when anyone has updated information on a Realm profile and updates the information in Constant Contact.
- If an email address already exists in both Realm and Constant Contact, will sending an individual's information update the record in Constant Contact?
- Yes. Sending data updates the individual's Constant Contact record to match the information in Realm. You can also choose to send additional information, including custom fields, and link that information to the custom fields you have created in Constant Contact.
- What criteria does the sync use to match individuals?
- The sync matches individuals based on their first name, last name, and email address.
- When someone new subscribes to our publication in Constant Contact, does the sync automatically create a new Realm profile?
- No. The sync only updates existing information for linked profiles. It won't create new Realm profiles or delete existing ones.
- What's the difference in profile matching between the daily sync and sending a list to Constant Contact?
- Enabling the daily sync links records that match both profile name and email
address. When you send a list to Constant Contact, it only
matches the email address.
Example
The profile for a Realm individual is:
- Name: Anne Conley
- Email: anneconley@example.org
The profile for the same individual in Constant Contact is:
- Name: Annabelle Conley
- Email: anneconley@example.org
When the daily sync is enabled, the sync will not link the profiles — even though the email address is the same, the names "Anne" and "Annabelle" don't match.
However, when you send a list from Realm that includes Anne Conley, this will link the profiles because the email address matches. This also:
- Changes the name to Anne Conley in Constant Contact
- Includes Anne Conley in the nightly sync from that point forward
- When I grant permission to link Realm and Constant Contact, what account information is shared?
- Linking accounts shares the following Constant Contact
account information:
- The email address set as the contact email address of the account.
- The physical address for the account.
- The name of the account (username).
- The organization name.
Troubleshooting & Best Practices
- I want to know when there are errors in the daily sync.
- When there is an error in the Constant Contact daily sync, administrators receive an email about the issue. You can view the daily sync entries in the Realm change log for information about what data failed to sync and why.
- Constant Contact emails are being sent to the congregant's spam box.
- Constant Contact recommends that you authenticate your domain to improve email delivery. Besides Constant Contact authentication, you can self-publish for authentication. Call the Constant Contact compliance team at 866-433-8499 for more information about the best solutions for email delivery.
- I integrated Realm with my Constant Contact account, but things have changed, and I'm no longer comfortable with Realm accessing that information.
- You can disable the sync and remove the Constant Contact account from Realm. Change your settings from the Advanced Emails & Texting page of the Communications section. Currently, Constant Contact doesn't have a way for you to revoke access to Realm from within Constant Contact. Reach out to the Constant Contact support team for more information.
- I need to link contributors to their contribution, pledge, or tax statement.
First, generate the statements you want to share:
See Constant Contact's knowledge base to learn how to customize a dynamic link to share with your contacts. You receive this URL in the email that notifies you when your statements are generated. Alternatively, you can find this link with your statements in Realm. Click
by the appropriate statement, and select Access Link URL.